WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court on Monday ordered that Troy Davis, a high-profile death row inmate, should receive a new hearing to determine whether evidence not available at his trial could prove him innocent.

"The district court should receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could have been obtained at the time of the trial clearly establishes petitioner's innocence," the court said.

"The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing," the ruling said.

Davis, who is black, was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, a white policeman, in Savannah, Georgia.

He has always proclaimed his innocence and his supporters note that the murder weapon was never found, and neither DNA nor fingerprints implicated Davis in the crime.

Nine witnesses testified against him, but seven of them have said they were pressured by police to incriminate Davis. One of the two who continue to stand by their testimony was the police's other primary suspect.

Courts have so far ordered delays to Davis' execution on three occasions -- each time days or just hours before it was due to be carried out. In April, a federal appeals court in Atlanta rejected his request for a new trial, saying his case failed to meet requirements.

The Supreme Court's decision to allow Davis to argue before a federal judge that there is enough evidence to warrant a new trial is unusual, particularly as the court's nine justices are officially on recess until October 5.

"This is nearly the only time that the Supreme Court has ever remanded a case for hearing on innocence," said Stephen Bright, a professor at Yale law school who opposes the death penalty.

The opinion was written by Justice John Paul Stevens for the court, with conservative Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissenting. Newly-appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor did not participate in the decision.

Rights group Amnesty International's death penalty abolition campaign welcomed the court's ruling.

"We are grateful that the nation's highest court has seen the wisdom in granting a new evidentiary hearing to Troy Davis," said Laura Moye, director of the campaign.

"Given the lack of hard evidence tying Davis to Officer MacPhail's murder, it would be nothing short of unconscionable to put him to death as a means of conveniently tying up loose ends. Finally there is a chance for justice to truly be served."

But the ruling only gives Davis an opportunity to try and demonstrate that sufficient new evidence has emerged since his trial to warrant another judicial proceeding -- a relatively high bar to meet.

"The Supreme Court here says the evidence has to be so good, it not just proves but proves clearly that he's innocent. So he has a high burden to meet and anyone would have difficulty meeting that burden," said Bright.

Even the recanting of testimony by several witnesses against Davis might not be considered sufficiently new and different evidence to justify a new trial, Bright added.

But Davis does have significant support from inside and outside the United States, including from prominent individuals including former US president Jimmy Carter, South African minister Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI.

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